Scribd
Upload
17 views6 pages

Project Quantitative Technology

The Quantified Self movement uses technology to track and analyze physiological data for self-monitoring purposes. Devices like the Tic-Toc-Trac watch can track time perception to aid in early detection of neurological disorders. The resulting data has widespread implications for medicine, including aiding diagnosis, helping patients monitor health, and potentially reducing healthcare costs. As tracking technologies improve, they make it easier for individuals and medical professionals to quantify food intake, activity levels, and other health metrics to better understand factors that impact wellness.

Uploaded by

karandhillon5911
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
17 views6 pages

Project Quantitative Technology

The Quantified Self movement uses technology to track and analyze physiological data for self-monitoring purposes. Devices like the Tic-Toc-Trac watch can track time perception to aid in early detection of neurological disorders. The resulting data has widespread implications for medicine, including aiding diagnosis, helping patients monitor health, and potentially reducing healthcare costs. As tracking technologies improve, they make it easier for individuals and medical professionals to quantify food intake, activity levels, and other health metrics to better understand factors that impact wellness.

Uploaded by

karandhillon5911
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 6

Gerard Foster.

Foster1

Dr Hillary Kim

Biomedical Research 617

February 07, 2024

Quantified Self Movement Gains Momentum

Many of us have used the excuse, "Sorry l'm late, I lost track of time." What if
there were a device that

could not only help you keep track of time, but also make you aware when you are losing
time and why? As part

of their senior class project at Cornell, recent graduates Brian Schiffer and Sima Mitra
created a watch that

measures our perception of time, as opposed to actual time.

The implications of this watch device, called -Tic-Toc-Trac, could potentially lead
to early detection of

Alzheimer's disease and other neurological disorders. When properly used, Tic-Toc-Trac
not only measures how

long you think a particular action will take — compared with how long it actually takes -
but also helps to adjust

your perception so that it is more closely in line with actual time. Tic-Toc-Trac is just one
of the many recent

physiologic monitoring devices that contribute to the Quantified Self Movement, which is
paving the way for

people, both as individuals and as patients in the health care system, to measure and take
charge of their own health advances.

The Quantified Self Movement uses technology to measure and analyse data in
the human body for the

purpose of self-tracking. The resulting data of the movement has widespread implications
for the medical industry

and could eventually lead to solutions for aiding doctors in diagnosing and helping patients
monitor and prevent

diseases of both body and mind. These advances could eventually prolong

patient's lives and help reduce the increasing costs of healthcare.


1 Organisations such as airlines and the military could benefit because many
employees are involved in time sensitive operations.
Foster2

There are many other practical uses of such intensive data tracking by using these
physiologic

monitoring devices. What if you could predict the perfect time to start studying in order to
achieve the

best grade on a test?

Gary Wolf, who along with Kevin Kelley started the Quantified Self Movement,
theories that

memorisation is only a small part of learning and that there is an ideal moment to practice
what one

wants to memorise. They believe that if one practices too soon the time is wasted and if
one practices

too late the material is forgotten and then must be relearned. They conclude that the right
time to practice is just

at the moment one is about to forget. They point to the use of a computer to practice in
which a spaced repetition

program can predict when one is likely to forget an item and then schedule

practice at the mont time.


Accurate records and data have always been essential components of health
care; however, the notion

and widespread implications of using technology to help record and keep track of this data
is still in its infancy.

New devices, apps, and websites to measure calorie input, body fat, heart rate, blood

pressure, blood oxygen levels, water intake, sleep patterns and other diagnostics are being
created

every day. Dr. Eric Tool indicates that "the emergence of powerful tools to digitise human
beings with

full support of a digital infrastructure creates an unparalleled opportunity to inevitably and


forever

change the face of how health care is delivered" (Tool 5).

Doctors have long urged their patients to seek ways to better monitor and control
their food intake and

dietary habits. According to the Renter for Disease Control and Prevention, obesity affects

many adults (35.7% by some estimates) in the United States (Ogden). Doctors think that
many diseases and

conditions are exacerbated by an inappropriate diet and inadequate exercise. Medical


professionals
2. The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services indicates that the
widespread use of Health

Information Technology will improve the quality of health care.


Foster3

are often at a standstill, because their patients claim they want to lose weight but cannot
figure out how to control

their diets, especially when they are unaware of how much they are eating or how little
they are exercising.

Here is another instance where quantitative technology can make keeping track
of intake and output

simple and easy. Instead of having to write down every calorie, fat gram, and ounce of
protein or carbohydrate

consumed, there are now smartphone apps, tablet apps, and computer programs that will

enable you to enter and store all that data easily and let you track how food has made you
feel when

you ate it. By analysing the data at the end of a given week or month, an individual can
make changes that will

directly help him or her adjust food intake or exercise levels to reach a desired weight and
to

take the mystery out of why his or her current dietary plan may not be working.

The healthcare industry is taking notice. Many hospitals are planning for the
effects of

personalised medicine. There is a huge increase in the amount of data driven information,
and doctors

and medical staffs are being encouraged to communicate with their patients about the
data they track,

some of which could permanently change the diagnoses and treatment of chronic
conditions. Mining of

data could even support research into the genomic basis of a disease (Glaser 28).
Foster4

Works Cited

Ogden, Cynthia L. NCHS Data Brief Number 82. 15 January 2012. 17 January
2024.

Topol, EricJ. The Creative Destruction of Medicine. New York: Basic Books,
2012. Print.

You might also like